Successful Levy Central program adds second Alberta client
Saskatoon, SK (March 1, 2012) – Levy Central, a program of the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (ACS) that collects levies for Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta commodity organizations, has added the Alberta Barley Commission as a client. The Alberta Barley Commission is the tenth organization and second Alberta client to join the Levy Central program.
“Levy Central has an established relationship with grain companies and industry players, a solid reputation in the agriculture industry and a firm understanding of the check-off processes,” says Lisa Skierka, Alberta Barley Commission General Manager. “Moving to Levy Central will free up staff resources to focus on other issues related to slippage, such as check-off compliance, as well as campaigns to encourage farmers to sell their barley to licensed dealers. This will allow the Commission to invest more dollars in priorities in the areas of research and market development. Improved check-off processes will also allow us to better focus on meeting the demands of the new open marketing system.”
The Levy Central program was previously administered by the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission (SCDC) and was transferred to ACS in February 2010. ACS operates a Levy Central Advisory Group, made up of members from the ten commodity organizations and three directors from the ACS Board.
Currently, an estimated 17,000 Alberta farmers in six provincial regions are members of the Alberta Barley Commission. The Commission’s primary focus is barley research related to new varieties and disease management, as well as market development. The ultimate goal of the Commission is to increase the demand for barley and its profitability.
“The addition of the Alberta Barley Commission to the Levy Central program is an indication of how strong and well-run Levy Central is,” says ACS Chair Allen Kuhlmann. “ACS is proud of the excellent services offered through Levy Central and we will continue to improve our programs and services to bring more benefits our members and clients. We are confident that the Alberta Barley Commission will be very happy to be a part of the Levy Central program and we will work hard to meet their needs.”
The benefits of using levy collection services through Levy Central include an Automated Levy Tracking System Database, a knowledgeable Levy Central staff that has 29 combined years of experience working with levy collection and the database, and the ability for buyers of multiple commodities to deal with one organization and remit reports and payments to one address. Working relationships are quickly established between Levy Central staff and buyers, resulting in fewer reporting errors and less delinquency of reports and payments.
A levy is collected on each of the crops for the ten Levy Central organizations, paying for research, market development and education activities through the commodity organizations. The commodity organizations that collect levies through Levy Central are:
- Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission
- Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission
- Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission
- Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission
- Manitoba Oat Growers Association
- Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission
- Winter Cereals Manitoba Inc.
- Alberta Winter Wheat Producers Commission
- Alberta Barley Commission
There are many benefits for organizations to use levy collection services through Levy Central and ACS. For more information on Levy Central, please contact Christine Colborne, Levy Manager at (306) 975-6623 or colbornec@agcouncil.ca, or Laurie Dmytryshyn, ACS Executive Director, at (306) 975-6849 or dmytryshynl@agcouncil.ca. For more information on the Alberta Barley Commission, please visit their website at www.albertabarley.com.
– 30 –
For more information, please contact:
Dallas Carpenter, Communications Manager
Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan
306-975-6856
carpenterd@agcouncil.ca
Anne-Marie Bruzga Luchak, Communications Manager
Alberta Barley Commission
403-219-6260
aluchak@albertabarley.com